Financial Aid & Scholarship for Admitted Graduate Students

When it comes to funding your studies, there are two primary sources: scholarship and financial aid.

Scholarship for Graduate Students

MICA considers all entering graduate and post-baccalaureate students for partial, merit-based scholarship funding based on the strength of their application. These scholarship funds include MICA Graduate Merit Scholarship provided by the College, but also other endowed awards distributed by the college. The scholarship letter in your acceptance packet details these scholarship funds, and also outlines the conditions for retaining the funds throughout your graduate career at MICA. The Office of Graduate Admission and graduate faculty work closely to create and award these funds--if you have questions or concerns about scholarship funding, please don't hesitate to contact the Office of Graduate Admission directly.

Financial Aid for Graduate Students

For US citizens and permanent residents, the FAFSA form is a necessary step to securing need-based financial aid. This aid is distributed primarily in the form of Grad PLUS and Stafford loans. Once you've completed and submitted your FAFSA online at fafsa.ed.gov, it will be processed by MICA's Office of Financial Aid. Within 7-10 days after receiving the FAFSA, Financial Aid will send you a complete student budget and aid profile via post. Whether you've submitted your FAFSA or just started working on it, studentaid.ed.gov is a must-visit site: not only do they describe the process of securing aid, but there is detailed information about managing loans after graduate school.

Assistant Director of Financial Aid Christine Linquist works closely with incoming graduate students on federal financial aid. If you have questions about your award or eligibility, you can contact her directly at clindquist@mica.edu.

International students are not eligible to file a FAFSA form, but you can find some information about international student aid on the International Graduate Students page.

Other Funding

Locating third-party scholarships can be a difficult and competitive process--there's no other way to say it. The Office of Graduate Admission advises students to do as much research into potential alternative funding sources as possible. That said, it is often wise to plan your graduate finances and education on the assumption that external funding may not be available. Below, we've collected some external resources to help in your research. MICA doesn't have any connection with these services.